BRUNSWICK COUNTY — Millions of dollars to help fund fire department needs countywide was discussed among commissioners this week, as they also weighed implementing a fire tax in next year’s Brunswick County budget.
READ MORE: Brunswick County officials discuss emergency response policy changes
ALSO: Proposed Brunswick County budget won’t have tax change
But in the end, the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners dismissed a report from County Manager Steve Stone for a subsidy of $6.8 million during their meeting on Monday, June 16.
As detailed in his report, Stone said the subsidy would have allocated a one-time use of funds from the county’s fund balance to support four additional paid staff members for each fire department to address staffing shortages.
The county’s 13 fire departments have varying ranges of paid members based on collected fire fees in each district. These paid firefighters are supported by volunteers as well, but those numbers have been dwindling in recent years.
Commissioner Randy Thompson asked for a discussion of the subsidy to be put on Monday’s agenda after emergency services staffing shortages became a topic amid larger budget discussions. Thompson requested staff determine the amount of annual funding needed to support four people per shift in each volunteer fire department.
Stone came back with a proposed amount, ranging from $0 for departments that didn’t need the subsidy, because they’re already appropriately staffed, to nearly $1 million for departments that need more help. (See the full breakdown at end of article.)
Had the subsidy been approved, it would have been added as an amendment to the county’s FY 2025-26 budget voted on Monday night; Chair Mike Forte was the only one to dissent the budget’s passing.
When the subsidy was brought up during the meeting, however, Vice Chairman Marty Cooke asked for a motion to table the issue, alluding it came up too late in the budget process.
Despite Cooke’s request, the board wanted to hear his proposal. Ultimately, commissioners did not vote on the item.
Chair Forte — who declined to speak to Port City Daily — said during the meeting he was against the subsidy for a variety of reasons, one being a misuse of the county’s fund balance.
“You don’t go into your fund balance to pay for what will be recurring funds, that’s a one-time thing,” Forte said. “If we were buying a building, if we were buying land or something or equipment for the county, that’s what the fund balance is for. It is not a payroll.”
Thompson told Port City Daily he was disappointed to see it not included.
While the board plans to address the issue fully in FY 2026-27, he worries that without prompt action on staffing and funding, the public’s safety is being put at risk.
“My concern is that we may not be able to wait until July of 2026 to do this. We are putting people and our citizens at risk by not doing this immediately,” Thompson said.
The request comes as Brunswick County has experienced two large-scale wildfires in the last two years, including the Green Swamp Nature Preserve in 2023, which burned almost 16,000 acres, and the more recent Boiling Springs Lakes fire in May, which burned nearly 1,300 acres. These fires, due to scale, prompted the North Carolina Forest Service to get involved to contain the burns. Boiling Springs Lakes also had multiple fire departments in the region respond to help manage it, as homes were evacuated. No one was hurt during either fire, however.
While the commissioners agreed adequate changes needed to be made to funding the departments, Forte said that without the county yet deciding to implement a fire tax, a reevaluation of the fire department’s needs would be warranted.
Brunswick County is the only county still using fire fees to fund its fire departments and has been weighing the switch to a fire tax since October. Fire fees are calculated based on the heated square footage of buildings and by acreage for vacant land — meaning more rural areas have less fees contributing to their fire districts.
Alternatively, fire taxes are based on property values within a district, meaning the higher property values in a district generate more revenue. Fire taxes tend to be more stable and adjustable based on the needs of the fire department within the tax district’s limitations.
Under North Carolina law, the county can charge a 10-cent fire tax per $100 property value in each fire district or between 11- and 15-cents per $100 value.
Commissioner Frank Williams was also against the subsidy and said it would place people into positions before the county knows how they would pay them next year.
“This is not going to be an easy process for what this looks like long-term,” he said. “I think we need to know the path forward before we have you guys go put people on the hook to quit whatever job they have now and come to work for you before we know how we’re going to pay them next year.”
Without the subsidy in place, Stone told commissioners he would provide a list of alternative strategies for the board to look at later this summer, with a final recommendation put forth in January.
“We have already been talking about some alternative scenarios to make sure we can comply with the statues and make the funding available,” Stone said.
Below are Stone’s presented breakdown of subsidy allocations:
St. James – $971,217
Bolivia – $798,944
Navassa – $753,557
Waccamaw – $706,240
Northwest – $406,217
Winnabow – $680,226
Civietown – $532,429
Shallotte Point – $539,800
Sunset Harbor/Zion Hill – $366,949
Grissettown Longwood – $382,607
Supply – $93,674
Boiling Springs Lakes VFD – $662,895
Calabash – no amount
Tri-Beach – no amount
The departments currently receive the following annual personnel funding from fire fees:
St. James – no amount
Bolivia – $172,273
Navassa – $217,660
Waccamaw – $264,977
Northwest – $565,000
Winnabow – $290,991
Civietown – $438,788
Shallotte Point – $431,417
Sunset Harbor/ Zion Hill – $604,268
Grissettown Longwood – $588,610
Supply – $877,543
Boiling Springs Lakes VFD – $308,322
Calabash – $1,396,724
Tri-Beach – $1,237,659
Want to read more from PCD? Subscribe now and then sign up for our morning newsletter, Wilmington Wire, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.
